Narciso Rodriguez

Posted by Rod Hagwood on November 25, 2009 02:20 PM, November 25, 2009

Either Nino Cerruti is bringing fashion to furniture or the other way around. The namesake of the Italian fashion house (but based in Paris) is scheduled to open a Cerruti Baleri design store in Miami's Design District Tuesday, December 1st at 4141 NE 2nd Avenue. The brand started out as a textile mill in Biella, Italy started by Nini's grandfather back in 1881. Cerruti and his brothers still run the fabric business and expanded it in 2004 by buying Italian furniture company Baleri.

Posted by Rod Hagwood on November 25, 2009 02:20 PM, November 25, 2009

Either Nino Cerruti is bringing fashion to furniture or the other way around. The namesake of the Italian fashion house (but based in Paris) is scheduled to open a Cerruti Baleri design store in Miami's Design District Tuesday, December 1st at 4141 NE 2nd Avenue. The brand started out as a textile mill in Biella, Italy started by Nini's grandfather back in 1881. Cerruti and his brothers still run the fabric business and expanded it in 2004 by buying Italian furniture company Baleri.

"It's too early still for anyone in any area to really understand and grasp everything that has changed. Part of what I do is sit and think, dream and fantasize about what makes women happy. But now there will be a newness of happiness; of what will bring excitement and fun to a woman's life." ..... Narciso Rodriguez, while visiting South Florida in October Last September, when New York-based designers were just getting some steam going for the spring collections, the terrorist attacks shut down New York.

New York Fashion Week had a Sybil feel to it. Multiple personalities are often brought on by stress - and nothing is more stressful to luxe fashion than an economic crisis. So it's no wonder that designers seem to be divided between a Working Girl-'80s-optimistic-conspicuous-consumption bend on one hand and a Mad Max-apocalypse-now-street-tough look on the other. We give you the rundown on the trends so you can make them your own. Page 8 Big shoulders Michael Kors had origami-like folds extending the shoulders of his sleek sportswear, and Marc Jacobs went all out with launch-pad padding and '80s big coiffures.

New York Fashion Week had a Sybil feel to it. Multiple personalities are often brought on by stress - and nothing is more stressful to luxe fashion than an economic crisis. So it's no wonder that designers seem to be divided between a Working Girl-'80s-optimistic-conspicuous-consumption bend on one hand and a Mad Max-apocalypse-now-street-tough look on the other. We give you the rundown on the trends so you can make them your own. Page 8 Big shoulders Michael Kors had origami-like folds extending the shoulders of his sleek sportswear, and Marc Jacobs went all out with launch-pad padding and '80s big coiffures.

What's the most important thing in fashion? Timing. Great designers have an innate sense of when to trot out a trend. Hemlines, textures, silhouettes -- the building blocks of clothing design -- are in a constant state of flux in the world of la moda, so why do some ideas take off on the runway while others sink out of sight? Timing. It has to be a seamless fit with what the world is experiencing; that's why they call it "the fashion of the times." So, a year ago (February/March 2001)

Last century, there were only a handful of memorable wedding gowns. There was Mainbocher's diplomatic dress for Wallis Simpson. Then there was David Emanuel's chiffon cloud for Princess Diana. And for America's royalty, there was Narciso Rodriguez's bias-cut gown for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. That one dress, photographed and admired around the globe, launched Rodriguez. And now, sitting on the patio of his beachfront room at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, the 40-year-old designer looks hardly aware of his rocket ride through fashion's stratosphere.

What can we gush about Sex and the City that hasn't already been gushed? As it turns out: plenty. There is a ton of trivia and fun facts about the fashionable film. Here's a sampling (SPOILER ALERT): South Florida stylists Paolo Nieddu (Scarlett Johansson) and Danny Santiago (W and Ocean Drive magazine) helped costumers Patricia Field and Molly Rogers (they have wardrobed the cast since the show began on HBO). Many of the vintage pieces are from Santiago's warehouse in Miami. Jessica Replansky and Nieddu scoured Goodwill and countless New York vintage shops for the scene where Carrie cleans out her closet.

Cuban-born designer Mayda Cisneros likes to tell this story about herself because it reveals that clothes and dressing others are her long-standing passion. Back in the mid-1960s, when she was 12 and attending a Catholic boarding school in San Antonio, Texas, Cisneros' captive clients were her dolls, which she kept in fashionable wardrobes. "One day I dressed one in a pair of sheer slacks and a gold bra and left her on my bed," Cisneros, 47, remembers. One of the nuns spotted the doll and deemed the get-up risque.

You need a scorecard to keep track of which designer is working for which label over the past year. In Paris, Alexander McQueen was installed at the house of Dior just long enough to sew in some shoulder pads before shipping out to save the house of Givenchy. John Galliano moved into the house of Dior. Meanwhile, both designers continue to produce labels under their own names in their native England. Some of these changes have been quick. Richard Tyler became famous for his menswear-inspired suits worn by Janet Jackson and Julia Roberts.

What can we gush about Sex and the City that hasn't already been gushed? As it turns out: plenty. There is a ton of trivia and fun facts about the fashionable film. Here's a sampling (SPOILER ALERT): South Florida stylists Paolo Nieddu (Scarlett Johansson) and Danny Santiago (W and Ocean Drive magazine) helped costumers Patricia Field and Molly Rogers (they have wardrobed the cast since the show began on HBO). Many of the vintage pieces are from Santiago's warehouse in Miami. Jessica Replansky and Nieddu scoured Goodwill and countless New York vintage shops for the scene where Carrie cleans out her closet.

"It's too early still for anyone in any area to really understand and grasp everything that has changed. Part of what I do is sit and think, dream and fantasize about what makes women happy. But now there will be a newness of happiness; of what will bring excitement and fun to a woman's life." ..... Narciso Rodriguez, while visiting South Florida in October Last September, when New York-based designers were just getting some steam going for the spring collections, the terrorist attacks shut down New York.

What's the most important thing in fashion? Timing. Great designers have an innate sense of when to trot out a trend. Hemlines, textures, silhouettes -- the building blocks of clothing design -- are in a constant state of flux in the world of la moda, so why do some ideas take off on the runway while others sink out of sight? Timing. It has to be a seamless fit with what the world is experiencing; that's why they call it "the fashion of the times." So, a year ago (February/March 2001)

Last century, there were only a handful of memorable wedding gowns. There was Mainbocher's diplomatic dress for Wallis Simpson. Then there was David Emanuel's chiffon cloud for Princess Diana. And for America's royalty, there was Narciso Rodriguez's bias-cut gown for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. That one dress, photographed and admired around the globe, launched Rodriguez. And now, sitting on the patio of his beachfront room at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, the 40-year-old designer looks hardly aware of his rocket ride through fashion's stratosphere.

Cuban-born designer Mayda Cisneros likes to tell this story about herself because it reveals that clothes and dressing others are her long-standing passion. Back in the mid-1960s, when she was 12 and attending a Catholic boarding school in San Antonio, Texas, Cisneros' captive clients were her dolls, which she kept in fashionable wardrobes. "One day I dressed one in a pair of sheer slacks and a gold bra and left her on my bed," Cisneros, 47, remembers. One of the nuns spotted the doll and deemed the get-up risque.

Front row at Narciso Rodriguez Tuesday night were longtime fans of the minimalist designer: Claire Danes, Julianna Margulies, Jessica Alba, Jessica Seinfeld and - somewhat surprisingly - NHLer Sean Avery. (Fresh off his summer internship at Vogue and a trade from the New York Rangers to the Dallas Stars, the hockey player is also the subject of an upcoming romantic comedy.) Equally surprising Tuesday was that ebullient designer Betsey Johnson had some wearable apparel in her show, which celebrated childhood.

Posted by Rod Hagwood on September 18, 2009 03:08 PM, September 18, 2009

January Jones, Emily Blunt, Rosario Dawson and Mary-Louise Parker at Tommy Hilfiger Thursday. Taylor Swift, Naomi Watts and January Jones at Tommy Hilfiger. You can just make out Russell Simmons in the second row between the model on the catwalk and Watts. Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and model Kemp Muhl at the ThreeASFOUR show Thursday. Eva Mendes, Kerry Washington, Rose Byrne and Thandie Newton at the Calvin Klein show Thursday Hal Rubenstein from In-Style magazine with comedienne Kathy Griffin at the Isaac Mizrahi show Thursday.